Railway foot-guard.



J. W. THOMAS.

RAILWAY'FOOT GUARD. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. 1915.

1,227,856, Patented May 29, 1917.

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JOHN W. THOMAS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE THOMAS RAILWAY TRACK APPLIANCE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF KANSAS.

RAILWAY FOOT-GUARD.

Application filed November 19, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'JOHN W, THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chi cago, in the county of Cool; and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Foot-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a railway foot guard, and one object of the invention is to prevent accidents arising from swltchmen and others catching a foot in a switch-frog or between a main rail and a guard rail.

A further object of the invention is to brace the rails and firmly secure them in position at the point where the foot guard is applied, without the use of belts or other fastening devices which weaken said rails.

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter appear, and in order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a broken detail perspective of a foot guard made in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of a main rail and a guard rail to which my device is applied.

Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the foot guard.

Fig. l is a transverse section on line IV-IV of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the foot guard.

In carrying out the invention, I employ a base plate 1, having a lip 2 extending at an angle to the adjacent margin of said base plate 1, to overlap the adjacent margin of the base A of the guard rail C.

8 designates a vertical web intermediate the ends of the base plate 1 and formed integral, or otherwise firmly secured at its upper portion to a top plate 4.

The lower portion of the vertical web 3 has a pair of oppositely-extending lips and 6, spaced above the base plate 1 to admit the adjacent margins of the base flanges A and B of the guard rail C and the main rail D, respectively.

The longitudinal margins 7 of the top plate 4 extend upwardly and then slope downwardly and outwardly in opposite di rections to snugly fit against the adjacent undersides of the balls E and F of the rails C and D, respectively. By thus forming the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented my 29, 1917.

Serial No. 62,387.

top plate l its intermediate portion is spaced far enough below the tops of the rails to clear the flanges of car wheels traveling over the main rail D.

The front wall 8 of the top plate 1- slopes downwardly and forwardly and its under margin 9 bears against the adjacent sides of the base flanges A and B of the rails C and D, respectively, hence, a persons foot contacting the inclined wall 8 will be guided upwardly thereby and prevented from catching under the balls of said rails. The adjacent end 0 of the guard rail C is, preferably, beveled in order to be flush with the inclined. wall 8 of the foot guard.

As shown in the drawing, the top plate at tapers rearwardly to accommodate the outturned end of the guard rail C, but it is to be understood that said top plate may be of other shapes as conditions require.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that when the device is applied to the rails and secured to the underlying tie G with spikes II, or other suitable means, the lips 2, 5 and 6 firmly engage the adjacent margins of the rail bases, while the margins 7 of the top plate l bear against the und'ersides of the rail balls E and F. thereby constituting a firm support for said rails, so that they cannot move either laterally or vertically.

Having thus described my ll1\"CIltlOI1,Wl1iLt I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a railway foot guard, a base plate, a lip adjacent one margin of said base plate, a top plate, and means connecting said base and top plates.

2. In a railway foot guard, a base plate, two oppositely-extending lips connected to said base plate and adapted to overlap the adjacent margins of the rails, a central web extending upwardly from said lips, and a top plate connected to said web.

In a railway foot guard, a base plate adapted to underlie two adjacent rails, a top plate having a wall at one end and longitudinal up and outturned margins, and means connecting said base and top plates.

4. A railway foot guard, consisting of a base plate, a lip adjacent one margin of said base plate and adapted to overlap a rail base, two oppositely-extending lips connected to the base plate adjacent its central portion and adapted to overlap two rail bases, a

web extending upward from the last-mentioned lips, and a top plate having an inclined end Wall and two longitudinal margins adapted to engage the balls of two rails.

5. In combination with two rails one of which has a sloping terminal, a foot guard consisting of 'a base plate to underlie said rails, a lip adjacent one margin of said base plate to overlap the adjacent base of one of said rails, two oppositely-extending lips connected to the base plate adjacent its central portion and adapted to overlap the two rail bases, a web extending upward from the last-mentioned lips, and a top plate having a front wall and two longitudinal mar- T JOHN W. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

F. G. FISCHER, L. J. FISCHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

